


Here, Now

by MLauren



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Surprises, best friend squad - Freeform, only fluff, prompt, wow this is becoming a thing apparently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25018756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MLauren/pseuds/MLauren
Summary: Bow and Glimmer surprise Adora with a not-birthday party. Years later, the three do the same for Catra.| All-Fluff (woah that was weird to type again) | Best Friend Squad | Catradora | General-Audiences |
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 153





	Here, Now

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fun prompt from my friend, A. The guidelines were for Bow and Glimmer to throw a party for Adora. Oh, and there had to be cake! A also said, 'not Catradora', but by the tags... we see how well that panned out. ;)

**_Here, Now_ **

-M. Lauren

  
  


* * *

  
  


**“Uhh, what’s all this?”** Blank faced and with hands raised at her side, Adora stood in the doorway.

Catching her stunned friend off guard, Glimmer forced her forward at a sprint. She pushed her toward the banquet lined with an assortment of colorful foods. 

“You said you never knew when your birthday was!” Gimmer explained as she came to stand opposite of her at the display. “Bow and I were talking and... we want _this_ to be your day to celebrate…”

Bow now joined Glimmer. His grin was wide as he watched Adora’s confused eyes scanning the sweets. 

“I don’t understand…” her brows pinched. “What’s so special about today?”

“You don’t remember?” Gimmer’s excitement outweighed her disappointment. Smiling, she returned to Adora’s side, taking an arm around her shoulders. “This is the day you came to Bright Moon for the first time! Two years ago you transformed into She-Ra and my mom let you stay...”

There was a hint of sadness in Glimmer’s voice as she spoke about Angella. Seeing this, Bow came to hug both his friends from behind.

He continued happily, “This is the day we became the best friend squad! We might not know when you were born, but we do know when you came in and changed our lives forever.”

Adora turned to Bow, her face heavy with affection. “ _Aw_... _you guys_!” 

Spinning on her toes she caught them both in a painful hug. Bow grunted, and Glimmer squeaked in surprise. 

“Easy with those arms!” Bow gasped. 

“Sorry,” Adora chuckled. Her cheeks darkened as she loosened her hold. “I just love you both so much!”

“-and we love you, too! That’s why we wanted to do this!” Glimmer reminded her. 

“Come,” Bow took Adora’s hand. “Look at what we made for you…”

Slowly, Adora walked around the banquet table. Her eyes grew larger with each passing arrangement, then she saw something that had her stopping in her tracks all together. Her blue iris appeared to glow as she raised a hand to cover her mouth. 

“That! What’s that? _I want that_!” Adora erratically pointed at the baked-good on a circle stand. 

She began to bounce on her feet, causing Bow and Glimmer to laugh at her. 

“That’s a cake! We eat them on birthdays.” Glimmer bumped her hip into Adora’s. 

She remained distracted. Her jaw dropped. The three tier rainbow cake had captivated all of Adora’s attention.

She reached forward, but Bow caught her hand. “No, no, you have to cut it first! It’s a _tradition_!”

Adora moved for her dagger and Glimmer stopped her. “-with a cake knife, silly…”

Freezing, Adora left her dagger sheathed.

“Well, what are we waiting for? _Cake-_ Cut it!” Bow held Adora back from walking head-first and distracted into the table. 

“Wait! First you make a wish, and then you cut it!” Excitement radiated off of Glimmer. She handed Adora the knife waiting beside the stand and gave her some space.

“A wish?” Adora’s brow lifted as her fingers flexed around the knife's handle. 

“You know, like something you _want_ ; world peace or Hordak’s head on a platter-”

“I know what a wish is!” Adora cutoff Bow’s explanation. “I just don’t know _why_ I have to make one?”

“It’s a _tradition_!” He continued eagerly. 

“Yeah... tradition- _blah, blah, blah…_ ” Try as she might, though, Adora couldn’t hide her excitement. 

“-but, _shh_ …” Bow dramatized. “You can’t tell us or it won’t come true!”

Giggling in understanding, she turned to fully face the cake. The knife came to hover over its top layer, freezing there momentarily. 

_A wish…_ she considered, _-but what_ _do I want?_

Adora’s eyes closed and she took a steadying breath. After a short minute, she decided. Adora nodded sternly before pressing down on the blade. 

“Yay!” both Bow and Glimmer cheered. 

“I’ll get the plates!” Glimmer dashed to the end of the display. 

As eager as Adora was for the cake, she was now more interested in the magic behind her wish. Like all things in Bright Moon, they were more convoluted than she first imagined. If anywhere in Etheria made her feel most powerful- it was here with two of the most important people in her life, cutting cake on her not-birthday... 

However, her heart still yearned for another to join them. 

If Adora had _one_ wish... it would be for Catra to be here with them now.

Yet, Adora knew some dreams were impossible to come true- she understood the complexity of her desire, but found herself making the wish anyway.

* * *

“How many times do I have to tell you- I don’t like surprises!” 

The claws on Catra’s toes dug into the floorboards as Adora tried to push her forward. She had her arms crossed, retracted fingernails digging into her skin while she stubbornly fought against her girlfriend’s hands.

“ _Uh_ , I know that… That’s why I said we have something for you in the dining hall…” Stopping in front of her, Adora lowered her eyes. “Do you always have to be so difficult?”

“Yes, yes I do.” Catra smirked, proudly lifting her chin. 

Adora fought back a groan. “For five minutes, _please_ , don’t be yourself! Glimmer worked really hard on this... and you already made me ruin the surprise part!”

“Fine,” Catra accepted the hand that Adora held out to her. “-but only so Sparkles doesn’t teleport me in there herself.”

Smiling again, Adora pulled her into the room. “You’re going to love it! I promise.”

“Well, I _better_. Besides, you’ve made good on all your promises so far, princess...” 

Catra subtly returned Adora’s grin. She couldn’t help it. Her elation was contagious. Every time Adora smiled, Catra felt her chest expanding with warmth. When Adora smiled, all Catra wanted to do was find a way to make it happen again. 

“Woah! What magical creature had to die in order to decorate this place?” Catra stopped short. Her multi-colored eyes widened. 

The table and the room beyond it were adorned in rainbow streamers. Food lined the banquet. There were hors d'oeuvres and small plates and more sweets than Catra could sanely bring herself to try all of. 

“Surprise!” Both Bow and Glimmer leapt up from behind the table. 

Catra took a cautious step back. Her tail bristled and her ears lowered. Adora may have warned her about the surprise, but their excitement still had her startled. 

“What’s this about?” Though her tone was dry, Catra’s feet instinctively moved toward them. 

“Adora told us that you didn’t have birthdays in the Fright Zone, so we made a new tradition- we want to celebrate the day you came and joined us in Bright Moon!” Glimmer rounded the table, linking her arm with Catra’s. 

“You mean _after_ I was forced to rescue your ass and Horde Prime turned me into one of his clones?” 

Rolling her eyes, Glimmer moved to continue, but it was too late. Catra pulled from her hold. Shocked and drooling, she wandered to the far end of the table while her eyes eagerly began to water. 

“That! What’s that? _I want that_!” she pointed to the red and black cake on display. 

“-told you she’d like it,” Adora ribbed Glimmer playfully. 

She stepped forward and took an arm around Catra’s stunned shoulders. 

“ _That_ is a cake… It’s fluffy and sweet and delicious and-” Adora stopped mid-rant. 

Catra was reaching forward with her claw, but Bow quickly caught her hand. “Wait! You’ve got to cut it first! Man, you Ex-Horde Soldiers were so deprived as kids!” 

Glimmer handed Catra the knife. “Before that, though, you have to make a wish!”

“Is she serious?” Dragging her thumb toward Glimmer, Catra sent Adora a bored look. 

Adora laughed and took Catra’s other hand, “She's _deadly_ serious.”

Bow stepped in behind the three women. He simultaneously hugged them all as he bounced on his toes. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get to the wish making and cut the cake!”

“Alright, alright! I've got it!” Catra shook them off. 

“-but, _shh_ … You can’t tell us your wish or it won’t come true!” Glimmer explained, placing an encouraging hand on her shoulder. 

With her eyes closed, Catra pondered her wish for a short moment. When her eyes reopened she stepped forward and cut the cake. 

“Yay! Happy not-birthday!” the three behind her cheered. 

Minutes later when slices of cake had been dished out, Adora returned to Catra’s side. 

“Well,” her brow arched. 

“It’s really, _really_ good…”

“No, I meant… what did you wish for?” 

Turning to her, Adora tried to hide a sheepish expression into her slice of cake. Seeing her blush, Catra started to chuckle. 

“I thought it was supposed to be a _secret_?” Catra mused, feigning a glare. 

“It is, but I was curious… You don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal or anything…” 

“Well,” Catra hummed, leaning closer to Adora. “What did you wish for on your first not-birthday?”

The heat in Adora’s cheeks expanded further. “Uh, I.. Well you see, the thing is-”

Catra began to laugh as her girlfriend stammered.

“I wished for you, okay?" Adora surprisingly shouted. "I wished that you would join us… _join me_ …in the Rebellion... and here in Bright Moon...”

Adora had spoken so fast, she nearly missed it. Catra shook her head as she continued to laugh at her.

“You're such a dork!” she baited.

Groaning, Adora dragged a hand over her face, smudging red frosting across her cheek. “There! I told you mine. Are you happy? Now you have to tell me yours!”

“What can I say, Princess,” Using her fingertip, Catra wiped the bit of frosting from the corner Adora’s mouth. “I didn’t wish for anything…”

Her eyes bugged out, watching Catra lick her finger. “You, what do you mean- you didn’t?”

She shook her head, “Nope, I didn’t. Why would I? I have more now than I could've ever hoped for.”

“Aw!” Bow startled Adora from her lovestruck daze when he enveloped both women in a tight hug. 

“Yeah, Horde Scum! When did you get so fluffy?”

Glimmer’s arms joined opposite of Bow’s, and Adora’s familiar warmth covered Catra’s back. 

_Yup_ , this was it- her best friend squad. Catra hadn't a need for wishes. She'd never dared to try before, so why risk ruining everything while she had all she could've ever wanted, right _here_ and right _now_.

* * *

  
_Cheers,_

_M._


End file.
